Dragonspell
by GullibleGearworth
Summary: Master Starscream, High Mage of the Decepticon kingdom, has discovered an incantation which could change the history of the Deceptions and the Autobots forever; the infamous Dragonspell, which could turn any shapeshifter into the deadliest dragon they could summon. He just has to make sure Megatron-or Optimus Prime-won't find out before he does.
1. Chapter 1

Hello dear readers! Here comes a Dragon Age/DnD based Transformers: Prime fantasy AU! Myself and my dear friend spineys-artly-blog over at tumblr have been working on this together for some time, so I hope you like it!

"What did you say?" A young woman asked through the empty book shelves of the ancient library of the Vadena kingdom at the older man in front of her. Unorganized books and scrolls of spells, histories, and fictional children's tales were scattered amongst the two beings, and the man who was with her was visibly annoyed at the disarray of the place.

"There's a chance we've found Megatron's latest headquarters," Optimus Prime explained, his eyes picking at an old religious text he held in his battle-worn hands. Arcee found it charming, the way he treated books; he was a massive, dark-skinned man, his hair peppered with age and his face dented with slight wrinkles. He had watched empires fall and faced the worst in hand-to-hand battle, yet he treated the ancient texts as if they were precious treasures. To him, Arcee was sure they were. "Or, at least where the Decepticons are currently holed up."

The Prime delicately placed the text back on the shelf, in the place closest to its alphabetical placement. Looking around for any other humans present near them—to which there were none, considering how vacant the library was these days—he suddenly left the rows of scrolls and books, motioning for the smaller woman to follow. "So…why not hold a formal meeting instead of taking me all the way out here to tell me?" Arcee asked, pulling the hood over her face, self-concious of the pink scales that glittered on her cheeks and jaw.

They passed the librarian, who was piss-drunk and passed out as per usual. He only jolted awake as they opened the door to the cold fall air, causing him to mumble some sort of slur in their direction. "There have been high readings of dark energon all over the general area, not exclusive to the dark forest. I wanted to see if any of the humans have noticed activity, or if the stories of the infamous Gray Eagle have driven fear into everyone once again."

"That's what they call him now?" Arcee shivered as the cold slipped through her long robes as they turned a road and were exposed to the open marketplace. Even in the pre-winter air, kites and flags waved their colors beneath the darkening sky. Children ran from their parents to chase one another, ogling at the candy and toy venders. Wares and trade offers were called out across the town square as villagers worked to make money and feed their families. It was a peaceful and safe sight, but being around so many humans still put Arcee in an anxious state; her scales itched as a loud group of drunken teenage boys nearly stumbled into Optimus' path.

"Apparently so," Optimus shrugged as he covered the horns behind his ears with a navy-blue winter cap. "Either way, if Starscream is showing himself publically once again, it may be a sign that he and Megatron are planning something once more."

"If they are, what are we doing nearly twenty miles outside of our own land?" There were few who dared to question the authority of a Prime, but Arcee had known her leader long enough that they had formed a bond of mutual respect.

"Well, so far, myself and Ratchet were the first ones to see the signs," He explained, playing at the coin purse strapped to his belt. "I will be holding a formal meeting later, but you have some of the sharpest eyes for anything suspicious, next to Ratchet. And of course, with winter coming soon, we may as well start stocking up for any possible storms coming our way."

As soon as he mentioned it, Arcee caught the flash of a dark shape outside of her vision. It suddenly shrank to the size of a rat, daring to dart right in front of Optimus. "You see what I mean?"

"Was that a shade?!" Arcee whispered, her eyes following the rat as it continued to slip through the crowd. "Do you think that's one of Megatron's soldiers?!"

"Could be," Optimus replied. They continued to move with the croud, walking with more urgency. Arcee could hardly believe her eyes as the rat shifted into a fly, landing on a table where a witch was claiming that her herbs and crystal could curl all ailments. The shade seemed to believe her, for it took its rat form once more, snatched a pale, rose-colored quarts in its paws, and scampered away as fast as possible.

Optimus and Arcee didn't need to tell one another to split up and find where it was going.

The smaller woman was able to slide through the gaps in the crowd, while Optimus' taller head was able to give them a view of where the shade was headed. After several minutes, the central marketplace gave way to the wealthier townhouses, and the world opened up fully when they reached the more rural farming areas.

In the clouded sky above, a massive, purple-black raven soared in and out of the clouds, obviously waiting as the crystal-stealing rat was directly in the center of the crop field before them. Optimus and Arcee ducked behind a handful of crates and barrels, watching as the larger raven swooped down, taking the crystal in his own talons. The rat they had followed took its own raven shape, but turned sharply in the other direction.

"Which one do we follow?" Arcee asked, turning her head as the other shade eventually vanished into the tangle of city buildings. She shifted low to the ground, prepared to shift into her own alternate form if needed.

"At this point, our only worry is what the crystal is being used for," The Prime explained, crouching next to the young warrior. "I recognize its pale color as one used for fertility-assistance. I see no logical reason as to why Soundwave would need one, but there are multiple others who he could be delivering it to."

Immediately, Optimus shifted into his own alternate form; a powerful, mottled-gray draft horse. He turned his long head to see Arcee become a dark blue stag, rearing the silver and pink antlers atop her head. He pawed at the ground, signaling her to follow. Soon, the draft horse and the stag were pounding their way around the edge of the crop field, following the raven into what the humans had deemed the forbidden forest.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jack's attention was first caught by great stag bounding towards the edge of the muggy crop field and right into the dark and wary woods that the majority of the village feared every day and night. The lowly farm boy had never seen such a creature; its pelt was a blue-gray, with sharpened hooves glistening like roses, and a set of antlers that bore a gradient of pink and silver. Even with the storming sky blocking the sun's rays, Jack could see the light glinting off of the beast's horns, blinding him momentarily, leaving a spot in his vision.

Stags and even elk were always common during all seasons in the area; especially during harvest, it wasn't uncommon to see any kind of woodland creature wandering in the crop. However, it was the build and color of the deer that distracted him from his work, but it was the massive draft horse that seemed to be following the deer that shocked Jack more than anything.

Normally, one would pay more attention to the deer that seemed to be straight from an old fairy tale; but the large and healthy-looking draft horse had probably escaped from his corral to follow the stag in order to make a daring escape into the dark forest beyond.

Of course, to a low peasant like Jack, the reward for returning such a beautiful pony would be enough to keep himself and his single mother steady for the reason of the harvest, maybe even the year. Jack, without question, dropped the rusty rake he was digging with, and followed the horse into the wilderness beyond.

Arcee came to a hard stop right in front of a cleared ravine, her stark-white tail shooting up in alarm just as Soundwave landed dead center, on top of a moss-covered boulder. With the pink crystal enclosed in his talons, he angled his head towards the branches, cawing only three times.

The call echoed throughout the trees for several seconds before a massive shadow landed over the raven; Optimus slowly came up behind Arcee, snorting quietly as he lowered his head to pear into the clearing.

In front of the boulder, on a fallen log, landed the biggest eagle Optimus had seen in his years on the realm of Earth. Several shades of light gray, the raptor puffed out the darker mane around his head and neck. He tilted his head to the side, cold eyes peering at the raven below him.

"You're certain this is the crystal I requested?" He sneered, his pitched voice immediately silencing whatever animals wandered in the nearest vicinity. They were currently closer to the more…"forbidden" side of the forest; no animal or human would normally be found here, but Starscream's raspy tone would be enough to drive any creature away.

Soundwave bobbed his head in response, but stopped suddenly as a clumsy rustling of leaves and childish whispers made it to their ears from the other side of the ravine. From their cover, Arcee and Optimus turned their heads as well, as three small, humanoid shapes stumbled right into the clear view of the Decepticons.

Jack sprinted faster and faster as he began to lose sight of the horse. The deeper he wandered, the darker and more damp the forest grew; wisps of fog curled around his ankles as he explored more and more of the forbidden part of the land.

To the north of the great kingdom of Vadena, there lay a dark forest far to the north, supposedly filled with monsters and demons of all shapes and sizes. It had been there since the first humans built their settlements in the form of small, nomad camps. Of course, many had attempted to explore, or even take over the dismal woods, but all had failed…some never returning home. Even farther than the forbidden wood, however, was rumored to be two even older kingdoms…kingdoms that had also been destroyed and abandoned for thousands of years.

According to village legend, the northwestern kingdom of the Autobots was ruled over by a grand and wise knight named Orion, in a high castle that overlooked the flat moorlands outside of the woods. By his side lived witches, clerics, and rogues who had the ability to change their form at will.

The other fallen kingdom, that of the Decepticons, was enclosed in the jagged mountain range that surrounded the northeastern border of the dark forest. Their king, Lord Megatronus, had placed their castle in hiding, encased in a cavern deep below the earth. It was supposed that the evil king had a whole army of shades and demons of his own, even a Master of Sorcere who was rumored to wield all powers of magic known to man.

As plausible as these stories could be, Jack wasn't one who was so gullible that he believed the old nursery tales. Of course, nearly everyone in the kingdom knew of the old legend, yet none had come forth with solid evidence of their existence. And besides, his thoughts were currently focused on that of the wayward horse…of course, those thoughts cut off as a cold and clammy hand grabbed one of his ankles.

He couldn't help but shriek in utter terror, flailing his arms as yet another hand clamped over his mouth, pressing a cold blade to his cheek.

"Where do you think you're goin', pretty boy?"

Jack relaxed at the slightest; not without groaning at the familiarity of the voice. The owner of the hand that grabbed his ankle crawled from the tangled roots at his feet, while the one who threatened him with a knife leaped down from the higher branches of the same tree.

"Did you two see a huge horse running this way?" Jack asked Miko and Raf, who dusted the dirt from their already-torn clothes.

"No, but we did see a stag," Raf, a petite boy with a mop of brown hair replied. He smirked, pressing his wiry glasses further up his nose. "And, a lost farmhand who _claims_ he doesn't believe in fairy tales."

"Look at him now, following a magical deer into the one place our parents told us not to go!" Miko giggled, tightening her pigtails after she haphazardly shoved her blade into one of her boots.

"I wasn't following the damn deer," Jack mumbled, rolling his eyes in the slightest embarrassment. "I was looking for that horse, the big one. It has to belong to someone in the village, and if it does, I'm sure I'll be given a nice reward if I bring it back to the owner."

The other two children stepped in front of him, heading towards where the horse was last seen. "Well, if you're certain the lost beast isn't the infamous King Orion or Lord Megatronus, we may as well help a friend out!" The smaller, Asian girl joked, punching Jack's shoulder as they wandered even farther into the wilderness.

It wasn't until things began to grow darker and cooler that they began to regret their decision. They secretly all regretted it as the ground gave way to a deep ravine, and the screech of the fabled Gray Eagle sent their hearts into a cold shiver.


End file.
